This special issue addresses critical gaps in our understanding of severe psychiatric disorders during the perinatal period, an interval characterized by substantial physiological changes and heightened emotional vulnerability.

Guest Editors

Dr. Vered Bar, Director, Chava Center, Reproductive Psychiatry Unit, Sheba Medical Center, Israel

Prof. Anat Talmon, Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Head Researcher, Chava Center, Reproductive Psychiatry Unit, Sheba Medical Center, Israel

Dr. Mariana Nieves Piazza, Hospital Bernardino Rivadavia, Argentina

While the global conversation surrounding maternal mental health has expanded significantly, the majority of research and public discourse focuses on mild-to-moderate anxiety and depressive disorders. Consequently, severe perinatal mental illness (SPMI)—including puerperal psychosis, bipolar disorder, severe major depression, and acute suicidality—remains an under-researched and underserved domain.

This Special Issue aims to address this disparity by consolidating high-impact research focused on the most acute end of the perinatal spectrum. We are seeking contributions that bridge the gap between biological mechanisms and clinical application, providing a robust evidence base for the management of severe psychopathology in pregnancy and the postpartum period.

Scope and Aims

We invite researchers and clinicians to submit original research articles, comprehensive reviews, and brief reports. We are particularly interested in manuscripts that move beyond general prevalence data to explore the complex interplay of biological risk, disease trajectory, and specialized intervention.

Topics of Interest

Submissions are encouraged to address the following key pillars:

* Etiology & Pathophysiology: Investigations into the neurobiological, hormonal, immunological, and genetic underpinnings of severe perinatal psychiatric episodes.

* Risk Factors & Stratification: Identification of clinical, psychosocial, and biological markers that predict new-onset severe illness or postpartum relapse in women with pre-existing psychiatric histories.

* Prevention: Strategies for prophylactic management, preconception counseling, and systems-based approaches to minimizing the risk of hospitalization.

* Treatment & Intervention: Evidence-based approaches to acute management, including psychopharmacology, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and specialized inpatient care models (e.g., Mother-Baby Units).

This special issue examines how women’s psychological and social distress is increasingly expressed through the body, including autoimmune disease, chronic illness, reproductive and perinatal conditions, somatic syndromes, chronic pain, and medically unexplained symptoms. It responds to a growing crisis in women’s health marked by rising autoimmune disease, chronic comorbidity, and persistent gender bias in diagnosis and care.

By synthesizing psychiatry, neuroscience, gynecology, psychosomatic medicine, and social science, this collection advances integrative models of assessment and treatment that move beyond mind–body dualism. It foregrounds women’s lived experience as essential clinical evidence, treating subjective bodily distress as meaningful, patterned, and biologically real

We invite original research, reviews, clinical case series, and theoretical contributions that address the intersections of women’s mental health, trauma, embodiment, and systemic illness, with the goal of advancing integrative, holistic models of assessment and treatment.